UHAA NCRC Intern Program

2002-2003

 

Jodie Louise Hoopai Atkinson

 

Participation year:  2003

Sponsor:  Sogi

Program:  Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program (APAP)

 

Jodie Atkinson’s time in Washington was one of the greatest experiences of her college career.  She worked with the Asian Pacific American Program at the Smithsonian Institute as the Sogi Fellow.  Atkinson’s time with the program was divided among working on the Korean American Centennial programs, assisting the Smithsonian staff with various fundraising tasks and interacting with the Office of Hawaiian Affairs Trustees.  During her internship, the Trustees visited DC to advocate with Congress for the Akaka Bill, giving recognition to Hawaiians a native-born Americans.

 

Professional Activities:  Since returning to Hawaii, Atkinson graduated from UH Manoa in August 2003 and has been working full time as an insurance customer service agent at GEICO Insurance.  She was fortunate to be able to work with Dawn Holland (Sogi Intern 2003) at GEICO before Dawn moved to the mainland.  Atkinson is currently contemplating a move back to the DC area to work as a Resident Advisor with The Washington Center in May 2007.  Hopefully, if everything works out, she will become a part of the UHAA NCRC.



Melissa Desica

 

Participation year:  2003

Sponsor:  NCRC

Program:  Air & Space Smithsonian Magazine

 

Melissa Desica interned as an editor assistant at The Smithsonian Air & Space Magazine.  The staff at the magazine took her under its wing and nurtured her plans to become an editor/illustrator and to work at a publishing house.  She helped with writing and editing articles, fact checking and research, interviews, captioning, and reviews at the magazine.  The subjects Desica worked on were quite involved, for example she wrote the history of delta wing military aircraft and spoke with an astronaut who was ardently trying to organize the first manned mission to Mars.  She also had the opportunity to speak with an aeronautics engineer at the renowned Air & Space Museum on the Washington Mall and conduct research on a brand new aeronautics technology.  She loved having the work to show for this experience and found it satisfying to feel a part of creating something meaningful.  It is “… great for my resume, too.”

 

Professional Activities:  Desica graduated in 2005 with three Bachelor of Arts degree - Art, English and French – from the College of Arts and Sciences, University of Hawaii, Manoa Campus. Update: Award-winning Hawai’i author and illustrator Melissa “Missy” DeSica lost her 19-month battle with leukemia on December 17, 2008 at the age of 26. She was a Rhodes Scholar, a Gilman Scholar, and won numerous awards as a writer and illustrator of children’s books. She studied in Paris in addition to her internship in Washington, DC


Kimberly Durand

 

Participation year:  2002

Sponsor:  NCRC

Program:  General Services Administration

 

Kimberly Durand interned with the Washington Center in the Office of Electronic Government at the General Services Administration.  A computer science major, Durand benefited from working in an office that develops strategy and policy for use throughout the federal government.  Durand commented, “I was pleased with an incredible supportive team and learned a lot from the work experience.  We also took advantage of all the great stuff to see and do in Washington.”

 

Professional Activities:  Durand graduated from the University of Hawaii, Manoa Campus with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Information and Computer Science from the Colleges of Arts and Sciences.


 

Dawn Holland

 

Participation year:  2002

Sponsor:  Sogi

Program:  Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program (APAP)

 

Dawn Holland worked at the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program, rubbing shoulders with congressmen, stuffing enveloped, organizing a press conference, and attending congressional hearings.  She said she gained valuable professional writing experience and it was a fantastic opportunity for an undergraduate student.   This experience gave her a newfound confidence and a more diverse and tolerant perspective.

 

Professional Activities:  Holland returned to UH and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree.  She worked for two years in Hawaii, before going home to await her finance’s return from Iraq.  She is now living in Kentucky where she is planning her wedding to Christian who is an active duty National Guardsman.

 

Luela Ramos

 

Participation year:  2003

Sponsor:  NCRC

Program:  DC Public Health

 

Luela Ramos interned at the DC Public Health office where she worked with Project WISH (Women into Staying Healthy).  The mission of Project WISH is to assist low-income women of all racial backgrounds to obtain breast cancer screenings, mammograms, and to gain awareness of breast cancer.  The goal of the project was to increase early awareness of breast cancer and detect it before it reaches the late stages.  Breast cancer incidence in Washington DC at the time was the highest compared to the rest of the nation.  Aside from assisting women with breast cancer, Ramos also got the opportunity to attend health fairs, seminars regarding the nation’s health goals for 2010, and worked with the homeless through providing immunization shots.

 

Professional activities:  Since her internship in Washington DC, Ramos continues to take on leadership roles by being a planner for the Sariling Gawa Youth Conference, a non-profit organization designed to help Hawaii’s youth reach their goals.  She is also a residential life mentor the Health Careers Opportunity Program (HCOP), a federal funded organization for high school and college students interested in the health field.  Ramos served as a member of the Undergraduate Student Affairs Committee for the UH Manoa Nursing School where she became the student representative in the selection for new nursing students.  This summer, Ramos is interning at Queen’s Medical Center, Oncology Unit.  Ramos will be graduating in December with her Bachelor of Science degree in nursing.  Upon graduation, Ramos would like to pursue the field of Oncology through research and would eventually like to obtain a degree in medicine.

 

 

Ronald Tanaka

 

Participation year:  2002

Sponsor:  Fong

Program:  National Museum of American History

 

Ronald Tanaka worked at the American History Museum’s Medical History Division.  He wrote pharmaceutical company histories for upcoming exhibits, helped with a video series that documented the work of artificial organ inventors, and assisted curator with their various research projects.  Tanaka was impressed with Washington, DC’s vast resources of reference material held at the Library of Congress, the National Library of Medicine, and even the Smithsonian’s own stacks of books and articles.  “It was amazing that any reference material UH might ever need could be available within a couple of hours,” stated Tanaka.  “DC was a great experience that I would strongly recommend to any UH undergrad.”

 

Professional Activities:  Tanaka graduated from the University of Hawaii (Manoa Campus) in 2003 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology from the Colleges of Arts and Sciences.  He is currently completing his medical degree.



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